CardioExchange Archive

September 7th, 2012

News Briefs: Cholesterol Trends, AHA Late-Breakers, FDA Updates On Rivaroxaban And Heartware HVAD

Larry Husten, PHD

Cholesterol Trends The Centers for Disease Control issued a new report with the latest details about the prevalence of cholesterol screening and high blood cholesterol in U.S. adults. Here is their summary of the key findings: …cholesterol screening increased from 72.7% in 2005 to 76.0% in 2009, whereas the percentage of those screened who reported being told […]

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August 27th, 2012

ESC: No Benefit of Intraaortic Balloon Counterpulsation in Cardiogenic Shock

Larry Husten, PHD

Despite a lack of evidence, circulatory support with intraaortic balloon counterpulation (IABP) has a class 1 recommendation in the guidelines and is often used in patients in cardiogenic shock following myocardial infarction for whom early revascularization is planned. That situation may change soon, as no benefit was found for the use of IABP in the […]

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August 26th, 2012

First Detailed Look At Why Aliskiren Failed To Gain ALTITUDE

Larry Husten, PHD

This once-promising renin inhibitor was no better than placebo when it came to the composite outcome, but showed worrisome trends, especially when it came to stroke.

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August 8th, 2012

Risks and Benefits of Pediatric VAD Explored

Larry Husten, PHD

Few options besides extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) have been available for children with systolic heart failure awaiting transplantation. Now, a report by Charles Fraser, Jr., and colleagues published in the New England Journal of Medicine provides important new information about a ventricular assist device (VAD) designed for children. Trial investigators implanted 48 patients with the Excor Pediatric VAD […]

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July 5th, 2012

Stem Cell Therapy Company Hypes Preliminary Results

Larry Husten, PHD

A biotech company has been accused of releasing preliminary and misleading information about a clinical trial. The company, Osiris Therapeutics, is the manufacturer of  a cultured mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy called Prochymal, which is being studied in a phase 2, placebo-controlled trial in post-MI patients. Earlier this week, Osiris issued a press release announcing preliminary results from the trial, in […]

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July 3rd, 2012

Many CHF Patients Not Receiving – Or Getting Benefits From – High Dose ACE Inhibitors and ARBs

Larry Husten, PHD

Although current guidelines recommend that ACE inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers (ARBs) be used in high doses in patients with congestive heart failure, many CHF patients currently receive lower than recommended doses of these drugs. In a research letter published online in Archives of Internal Medicine, investigators in Montreal analyzed data from 43,405 patients with a first hospital […]

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May 4th, 2012

Company Fails To Disclose Details About Heart Failure Risk of Drug

Larry Husten, PHD

Boehringer Ingelheim failed to fully disclose data suggesting that one of its drugs, pramipexole,  a dopamine agonist sold under the brand name of Mirapex, is associated with a significantly increased risk of heart failure, according to a recent news report. The drug, which was originally developed for the treatment of Parkinson’s disease, is now also used to treat […]

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May 3rd, 2012

WARCEF: No Advantage for Warfarin over Aspirin in Heart Failure

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study offers “no compelling reason” to use warfarin instead of aspirin in heart failure patients who don’t have atrial fibrillation. In a paper published in the New England Journal of Medicine, Shunichi Homma and members of the Warfarin versus Aspirin in Reduced Cardiac Ejection Fraction (WARCEF) study group report the results of a trial in which […]

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April 26th, 2012

FDA Advisory Panel Gives Green Light to HeartWare Ventricular Assist System

Larry Husten, PHD

The FDA’s Circulatory System Devices panel voted 9-2 on Wednesday to recommend approval of the HeartWare Ventricular Assist System as a bridge to heart transplantation for patients with end-stage heart failure. The panel agreed unanimously (11-0) that the new device is effective. The panel was more divided about safety but ultimately voted  8-3 that the device […]

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April 25th, 2012

Study Sheds Light on Cardiac Device Infective Endocarditis

Larry Husten, PHD

A new study sheds light on a rare but highly dangerous complication associated with device implants: cardiac device infective endocarditis (CDIE). Approximately 10% to  23% of device infections result in CDIE, leading, in one estimate, to an overall rate of 1.14 cases per 1000 device-years. In a paper published in JAMA, Eugene Athan and colleagues analyzed data from […]

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